Meat And Two Veg

Here’s that pork chop–the one that so generously provided the bone with which I made the stock that embellished the chicken roulade kabobs so handsomely. I had a busy weekend (ceramics sale and then return to Rhode Island to collect all the work from the gallery) so this will have to do until I empty the camera of pictures from intervening meals. Having said that, though, it was a good one.

To begin, these lovely (local, pastured) chops. I defrosted them in a brine that also had herbs, garlic, and wine in it until it was time to cook them. Braised cabbage obviously goes very well with pork, but time was short. And because braised cabbage should be silky, unctuous, and giving, I used the pressure cooker to reduce it to such a state in a mere 40 minutes, along with onion, white wine, and coriander, cumin, and caraway seeds. I also grated a couple of sweet potatoes, then tossed them with an egg, a bit of flour, salt, and a pinch of 5-spice. I cooked them in a bit of butter until they were good and brown on the outside and nice and tender inside.

And then, after searing the chops–dutifully rubbed with fresh sage, thyme, rosemary, and marjoram–I made a sauce in the same pan, using white wine, Dijon mustard, heavy cream, and another few chiffonaded sage leaves. I let it bubble until it got nice and saucy. The meat was still light pink in the middle, and the supporting players all hit their marks with aplomb. Dinner doesn’t get much more autumnally satisfying than this.